Expatriate - Definition & Meaning

Published in Human Resources Terms by MBA Skool Team

What is Expatriate?

An expatriate is an employee who has left his native land and is working and temporarily residing in a foreign country. An expatriate can also be a citizen who has relinquished citizenship in their home country to become the citizen of another country. The term originates from the Latin words, ex (out of) and patria (fatherland).

A firm’s employees who are transferred out of their home base into some other area of the firm’s international operations are referred to as expatriates. The practice of global mobility of a company’s workforce helps in building competitive advantages. All expatriate employees are entitled to receive an expatriate premium while working in a foreign country. This includes monetary benefits and non-monetary incentives like housing and education.

When the initiative for expatriation comes from individuals rather than employers, it is called self-initiated expatriation (SIE). An illustration of this is the fact that some Asian Companies have recently hired a number of Western managers.

Dubai is a country where the population is composed predominantly of expatriates from countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Philippines, with only 20% of the population made up of citizens. Most popular expatriate destinations are Spain, followed by Germany and Britain.


Hence, this concludes the definition of Expatriate along with its overview.

This article has been researched & authored by the Business Concepts Team. It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.

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